I'm not sure if this bugs anyone else but... I get terribly disgusted when I check the Ebay auction listings and see something like this...

Neurodancer, RARE, COMPLETE! Like NEW!

Then checking the auction out I see it's... The Neurodancer cd in a cheap jewelcase. That's it. No box, manual, handwritten note from mom, nothing! Yeah, I guess if you want to play semantics, the CD is complete with all the original pressed on graphics/ink, but come on now...

Dinopark Tycoon is notorious for suffering this fate. If it's not just the cd or cd in a case with the "manual" it's a stock photo of the original box then the seller says it doesn't come with the box.

and don't get me started on the endless abuse of stock photos/info database with almost zero description of the games condition from the seller.

Half the time the people selling don't have a clue (and could blame them when it comes to 3do stuff) what they have.

I also think it's poor salesmanship. People want to know what they are buying. They want a nice picture of it and a good description. I'm sure they would sell more if they did everything a bit better. I remember selling off 200 Dreamcast games on eBay, and I put my little digital camera on a tripod, with a 128Mb flashcard and just did 20 at a time.

Ahh, 3DO boxes. The two-box system does now seem a little extravagant doesn't it? I think the 3DO had a pretty diverse collection of packing.

I have:

Cardboard only box with a single jewel case.
Cardboard with single integrated CD holder.
Single Jewel.
Double Jewel.
Quad Jewel.

and my Japanese copy of Warp's D comes in something very similar to a PS1 case.

Yep, I've got them all too, but weren't most 3DO games sold originally with a longbox, regardless of if the CD case was integrated or just inner jewel cases? I have this problem with the Jaguar&CD unit too; while cartridges all came in standard sized and style boxes, the Jaguar CD games range from Large outer box with tri-fold album style case inside, to jewel only cases and even DVD style on the late homebrew releases.
That always pissed me off becuase I like to display the boxes/cases like a library and I like more order and unity in my cases. And 3DO games had the long boxes which don't fit on many bookshelves. So what I've started doing now is putting the original boxes, manuals and/or jewel cases away for safe keeping and transfering all Jag&3DO discs into DVD cases and printing out new DVD case style cover art. Now I have a uniform collection, encompassing all consoles, yet each still has it's well-known unique art style and logos. I'm going to do the same to my Sega CD collection too, even though I kinda like the huge jewel cases. But the best part is that whether I bought the game complete or just a disc only, all can look great together in my library with DVD style cases.

Not all games have new DVD covers done to download yet, but I think anyone can upload covers:

Truthfully, I hate ebay these days. Aside form the horrid sales people that continue to use images and the words "Mint Condition" like they are selling comics, cards, or coins, the outrageous proces and shill bidding killed it for me. Not to mention the reasons stated above.

This is a stick up! Put all of your 3DO games in the bag and nobody gets hurt!

Well, almost every US game was released in a long box. The exceptions being most of the Vivid titles, Woody Woodpecker, any demo cd and I think the games boxed with any 3DO system even though those games too were sold in long box form. As far as I know, 3DO never made any changes near the end to sell in anything but the long boxes, so it was pretty much status quo for the life of the system. Now that's just in the US. England and Japan are far different stories.

Japanese seem to all come in Jewel cases, but with a bit of paper around the spine of the case that has pricing information or is used as part of the cover art or both.

The UK seemed to have a mixture of Jewel cases. Everything came in Jewel case back then. Stuff for the PC and Amiga for example. But we also had a lot of cardboard cases too.

I don't know about other parts of the world, but back in the late 80s/early 90s there were some spectacular boxes for all platforms. You would often get a freebie, like poster or something, and the game rattling around in this enormous cardboard box.

I think eventually the shops put an end too it, as it was taking up huge amounts of shelf/stock space I guess.

3DOKid wrote:Al Gore is the gaming worlds answer to the Grinch isn't he.

Hmm, probably couldn't pin that on Al Gore. I was talking more in the sense of the 3DO packaging parroting what the music industry did back in the early 90s with the long box.

In the US, the modern day Grinch is unquestionably Jack Thompson. Back in the early 90s, Senator Joe Lieberman was a pretty strong anti-gaming force, though like most politicians, it's doubtful he knew anything about the gaming industry outside of what his advisors told him about Night Trap and Doom.

3DOKid wrote:
Ahh, 3DO boxes. The two-box system does now seem a little extravagant doesn't it? I think the 3DO had a pretty diverse collection of packing.

You know, from the perspective of a game store owner, I wish we had stuck with PS1 packaging. That stuff was easy to gut, easy to display, and wonderful to store. I'd probably still order PS1 games if they still made them. Well, besides Final Fantasy, I can still order any FF game except Tactics and VII.

Anyway, as to the subject, a lot of people like to be misleading these days I've noticed. Somebody sold a display box for the 360, no description and a picture of the box making it seem to the uncautious that they were bidding on an actual 360. Sold it for a good bit, too.